Full 5 axes routing. 3 D ?

davidbarr

An EDM is a machine that uses a brass wire to cut metal. it create an electrical arc that cuts metal. it is used to make dies. Usually after they have already been hardened.

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Dr.Zook

Harry, EDM = Electrical Discharge Machining. Like David says, it is brass wire (about .020") run off a spool, down thru a set of upper and lower guides (kinda like a bandsaw) with voltage running thru the wire. Water is fed on the wire where it starts into the metal. If you are wire burning out a section of solid steel, you have a starter hole drilled thru the metal. You feed the wire down thru the upper gide, down thru the hole, then into the lower guide. The wire is then drawn thru the piece and runs into a waste container. Once the wire is used, it is scarp not to be used again. The newer machines are computer controled. The older machines ran off of tape. The upper giude and lower guide move independently of each other. Therefore, the square on one end and a circle on the other. It is an amasing machine. I have a sample where it has a number one on one end and a number two on the other.

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Dave
the "Doctor"

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harrysin

Thanks for those explanations but can such a machine really get anywhere close to 0.00002"?

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Harry

The best advice that I can give a newcomer to routing is, learn to use the router mounted, this can be as simple as a board held in a vice, with the router firmly attached and a simple fence held with clamps, and when he/she feels competant and confident in it's use and is familiar with all aspects of safety, THEN, and only then proceed to learn how to use the router hand held. This is MY opinion, and may or may not coincide with that of the forum management, but is based on a lifetime of woodworking.


http://members.dodo.com.au/~sharry02/

davidbarr

Higher end machines may. We have a cmm at work. It is a special cnc that uses a probe to inspect parts. When the guy was there calibrating it I asked him how accurate they were he told me they would check consistantly to 0.0002". They are the most accurate way to measure I have seen. So if the machine could hold that tollerance which I'm not sayin it can't. I wonder how you you could check it?

harrysin

I wouldn't have thought that a spark erosion cutter was capable of producing a smooth surface any more than a laser cutter can (can not)!

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Harry

The best advice that I can give a newcomer to routing is, learn to use the router mounted, this can be as simple as a board held in a vice, with the router firmly attached and a simple fence held with clamps, and when he/she feels competant and confident in it's use and is familiar with all aspects of safety, THEN, and only then proceed to learn how to use the router hand held. This is MY opinion, and may or may not coincide with that of the forum management, but is based on a lifetime of woodworking.


http://members.dodo.com.au/~sharry02/

xplorx4

.0002?? Thats' about the thickness of a cell in a tree!! I was trying to decide the other day if it was 1/32" or 1/64" that I was cutting!! I guess I will have to join the micron caliper stuff. Just give me some time, and I will have one of those digital calipers "thingies" so I can get down to at least 0.002, lets see how much do I allow for the glue?

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Wisdom: Where experience and knowledge combine and become one.

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I have a very good memory, just short is all.

harrysin

Jerry, the gentleman claimed 0.00002", that's FOUR zeros. I have a dial gauge with 2 micron divisions which I used when replacing video head discs in Sony and Toshiba Beta VCR's, regrettably I haven't found a use for it since Beta machines went the way of the Dodo!

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Harry

The best advice that I can give a newcomer to routing is, learn to use the router mounted, this can be as simple as a board held in a vice, with the router firmly attached and a simple fence held with clamps, and when he/she feels competant and confident in it's use and is familiar with all aspects of safety, THEN, and only then proceed to learn how to use the router hand held. This is MY opinion, and may or may not coincide with that of the forum management, but is based on a lifetime of woodworking.


http://members.dodo.com.au/~sharry02/

davidbarr

I know that this is a woodworking forum. But just to give you an idea what an EDM does. This is a car I made for my boy in Vo Tech.

Attached Images

EDM.jpg (288.0 KB, 27 views)

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I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
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harrysin

Thanks for that David, could you post an edge shot, also couldn't that sort of item be made as well by laser or high pressure water? I'm just curious, that's how I learn!

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Harry

The best advice that I can give a newcomer to routing is, learn to use the router mounted, this can be as simple as a board held in a vice, with the router firmly attached and a simple fence held with clamps, and when he/she feels competant and confident in it's use and is familiar with all aspects of safety, THEN, and only then proceed to learn how to use the router hand held. This is MY opinion, and may or may not coincide with that of the forum management, but is based on a lifetime of woodworking.


http://members.dodo.com.au/~sharry02/

davidbarr

This is the best pic that i could get. the metal is pretty thin. Only 0.070" thats 1.778 mm to you Aussies. You are right about the laser and the water jet. They would do just as good a job and do it a lot faster. This took me a few hours to make on the EDM while it would have only took me a few minutes on the other machines. We had a EDM at school it was free to use, I was bored. It would not be very cost effective to make. An example on how to use it proper. We were building a die at work. The die required that a large block had to be machined with a large portion of its middle removed along with most of one outer edge. If we were to machine it then harden it the heat would cause the piece to warp. So we machined as much we could, heat treated it, and had the EDM remove the rest. The EDM was the best choice for that operation for two reasons. 1. the block was pretty thick, close to 2" or 50.8mm thick. (we have a laser at work and at that thickness the EDM produces a much better finnish) 2. You get absolutley no heat transfer with an EDM.

Attached Images

car edge.jpg (102.3 KB, 24 views)

__________________
No man e'er was glorious, who was not laborious.
I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.
A wise monkey never monkeys with another monkey's monkey.
Boy I don't owe you nothin but a butt whoppin and that bill is long overdue!!!